"Total Recall," social media, and a sheer love of planning
Editor's Note: This is the first installment of "Meet a Media Planner," a new Yahoo! Ad Blog series where we chat with media planners to get to know them and hear their takes on their jobs, industry trends, and what clients are saying. Meet Rose Russo of Universal McCann, a finalist in our 2012 Yahoo! Young Media Stars competition and a media planner at Universal McCann.
Yahoo! Ad Blog: What do you do at Universal McCann?
Rose Russo: I work on the Sony Pictures Entertainment account, handling digital media planning for all the theatrical releases. It's awesome, I love it. I'm currently working on "Total Recall," which is finally coming out. It feels like we've been working on it forever. I'm also working on "Resident Evil," which comes out in September, and I'm in the middle of planning for "Here Comes the Boom," a comedy with Kevin James where he becomes an MMA fighter to try and save a school arts program. It looks really good!
YAB: What are the main parts of your job?
RR: Mostly negotiating, research, just the day-to-day management of a campaign when it's live. Since I work on movies, it's constantly changing every single day---always something new, always a new strategy. I never expected how fast everything happens---especially with digital, it's always changing.
YAB: What parts of your job are most rewarding and fulfilling?
RR: I love the planning---the initial phases when you get the brief and find out about the movie, and the tactical approach where you're figuring out what you're going to do and how you're going fit all of this within the budget you're given. One of my all-time favorite parts is getting to present in front of Sony, because it's wonderful to be given a platform and show off your hard work and the final product. It's like a pitch every time, and it's a team effort too, which is great.
YAB: What trend or issue is top of mind with your clients today?
RR: It's social media---how can we harness and use social to its full potential, because movies have such short life spans. We don't have a built-in fan base to message to, like a CPG product or a brand. Each movie is its own brand. Today we're seeing studios start their social media campaigns earlier and earlier, to let people know a movie is coming and get them ready for the full marketing campaigns. "Hunger Games" was a great example of how that can work, so lots of studios are doing it.
YAB: What do you think sets your agency apart?
RR: UM is infinitely curious. It's always trying to do better and know everything that's going on, and it never settles for anything familiar. Plus, it feels like a family, and our relationship with Sony is really close, too. It's one of the best parts about coming to work every day.
YAB: Your job is stressful; so how do you de-stress?
RR: I like to plan trips--even if I don't take them, at least I'm pretending I'm going to. This year, I finally said, I planned all these trips, why don't I take one—so I'm actually going to Europe in September. It's a good way to unwind at the end of the day---planning.
YAB: Wait; to wind down from media planning, you plan?
RR: I never thought of it that way. Sounds pathetic!
Look for our next exciting installment of "Meet a Media Planner" next week. And if you're a media planner who'd like to be featured, head on over to our Facebook page and leave a comment.
--- The Team
